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The answer to one of the Stars' main problems is simple, yet missing in 2-1 loss to Philadelphia

Dallas Stars' Jamie Benn raises his stick after scoring a goal during the third period of the team's NHL hockey game against the Philadelphia Flyers, Thursday, Jan. 10, 2019, in Philadelphia. The Flyers won 2-1. (AP Photo/Derik Hamilton)(Derik Hamilton / AP)

PHILADELPHIA -- The elixir to fix the failing and ailing Stars offense sounds so simple. The offense -- once again missing in a 2-1 loss in Philadelphia on Thursday night -- is pleading for an injection of dirty goals, the ones in the blue paint or that would qualify as greasy or that look like tips and deflections and redirections.

The formula asks the Stars to get to the front of the net and win their battle, and the apparent cure relies on positioning and effort. It's something that Stars players volunteered as a missing element as they scored two or fewer goals for the 25th time this season, the third-most in the NHL. Dallas entered the night 26th in the league in scoring at 2.70 goals per game.

Against the Flyers, Thursday appeared to be a chance to ride a wave of momentum into a season-long six-game homestand. Philadelphia lost its previous eight games. The Flyers had used seven goaltenders this season, and replaced their coach and general manager. They were last in the NHL standings.

Instead of taking advantage of the slumping Flyers, the Stars finished a three-game road trip at 1-2-0.

"It was kind of a game where you just wanted someone to step up and take it for us," coach Jim Montgomery said. "We didn't have that desperation in our game until the third period. And we need to establish that mentality earlier in the game."

Captain Jamie Benn scored the only Stars goal, a shot from the slot that leaked through Flyers goaltender Carter Hart to breathe life into Dallas with 2:51 remaining in the third period. The Stars couldn't find the equalizer in the waning seconds with an extra man, and finished with 38 shots on goal, including 18 in the third period.

While the Stars were peppering Hart with pucks, they were also increasingly giving odd-man rushes away to the Flyers. Philadelphia challenged Stars goaltender Anton Khudobin on at least three odd-man rushes, and the final score could have looked much different if not for Khudobin.

"Probably lucky we only lost 2-1," Benn said.

But the issue Thursday night, as it has been most of the season, was a lack of offense. Benn's tally came early enough to inspire hope, but too late to be the trampoline of a comeback victory. His goal was the 13th in a row from the Stars' best players (Benn, Tyler Seguin, Alexander Radulov, John Klingberg and Miro Heiskanen). The team's depth scoring has not chipped in during 2019.

Here's a rundown of the Stars' secondary scoring:

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Valeri Nichushkin hasn't scored all season. Devin Shore is goal-less in his last 25 games. Radek Faksa has one goal in the last 11 games. Mattias Janmark has two goals in the last 36 games. Blake Comeau has one goal in the last 14 games. Jason Spezza has scored once in the last 17 games. Jason Dickinson and Martin Hanzal are hurt.

Tyler Pitlick recently had a three-game goal streak but endured a 16-game goal drought that included a pair of healthy scratches.

"I think we've got to get to the net-front," Pitlick said. "We've got to take away his eyes. We've got to get tipped goals and shoot for stick and stuff like that. ... Just getting dirty goals. You see us, we make plays up to the D, over, hit the forward, behind the back. It all looks pretty, but we're not getting it to the net, so we need to just get more shots to the net and get more bodies to the net, and bang home rebounds."

Benn has made a career as a power forward in the dirty areas. Two weeks ago, his penchant for scoring close to the net was part of the public criticism from Stars CEO Jim Lites ("Jamie Benn hasn't scored a goal from longer than 5 feet all year," Lites said.)

"I think that starts with going to the dirty areas," Benn said. "It's where you score all the goals in this league, unless you're Ovechkin or Stamkos or Kucherov. Goals are scored right around the crease, and we've got to start getting to the dirty areas more."

Montgomery said it's not as easy as players simply skating to the front of the net and parking there. The rest of the team has to be better at possessing pucks, and that pillar of Montgomery's system has been inconsistent often and absent consistently.

"Everyone's like, 'Get to the dirty areas, that's simple,' but how does a team defend?" Montgomery said. "If a team defends inside the dots, well you can carry the puck but there might not be anybody there. We didn't have a lot of people on the strongside post when we were shooting pucks in the first two periods. That's how you create rebound chances.

"Sometimes it's not shooting right away, but maybe you turn back, put the puck to the goal line, then go low to high, then that opportunity is there. We just didn't do a lot of it, and you've got to give a lot of credit to the Flyers. They did a good job of denying us clean entries."

The challenge with the Stars’ secondary scoring is that those forwards are scorers. They contribute in other aspects of the game like winning board battles or killing penalties or stretching the ice with their speed or winning faceoffs.

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For guys like Shore, it’s not about the production.

“I think the last thing you should do is think about it and worry about it,” Shore said. “You can chip in, but you start thinking about production, you get away from other things. As far as depth guys, throw me in there, we’re not good enough to just try to produce. Play the right way and battle, that will take care of itself.”

It can be a balancing act to keep the rest of your game intact but also try to pile the goals. So Montgomery and the Stars coaching staff simply tells the forwards “to make plays, to read the open ice.”

“If I have the puck and you’re the close to me, the open ice is behind me,” Montgomery said. “If I have the puck and you’re back there at the door, the open ice is in front of you and I should carry it. And we’re just not recognizing that before we get the puck, especially our forward, of when they have time to make plays and when we need to put it in behind, and we should have puck support coming and skating to maintain possession. That’s where we lack consistency offensively right now.”

Matthew DeFranks. Matt covers the Stars for SportsDay, and previously covered the Florida Panthers for the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. He's also covered college football, the Miami Marlins, the Kansas City Royals and the Los Angeles Angels for a variety of outlets. He graduated from the University of Notre Dame.